


Bittersweet

by Blueberry_Cupcakes



Category: Love Island (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, F/M, Love Triangles, One Shot, Unhappy Ending, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-12 18:49:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29888973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blueberry_Cupcakes/pseuds/Blueberry_Cupcakes
Summary: Bobby fell in love the first time he saw her, and so did she. With someone else.
Relationships: Bobby McKenzie/Main Character (Love Island)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 19





	Bittersweet

**Author's Note:**

  * For [margotmuses](https://archiveofourown.org/users/margotmuses/gifts).



> Written for the LITG FF Writers Discord Gift Exchange.

Bobby fell in love the very second he laid eyes on her.

He hadn’t _meant_ to fall for her; he didn’t even _want_ to. It had just happened.

Look, he _knew_ it sounded like something only found in fairytales. He wasn't some barely touched spinster; he lived in reality. Definitely didn't believe in the bullshit highly paid movie producers tried to feed everyone.

Love at first sight? Please.

But now he knew he'd been wrong.

It was real.

On the first day of his hard to get into diploma, she’d walked into the kitchen/classroom of the world’s most prestigious school for pastry, late and soaking wet. 

As all the heads in the room swivelled to look at her, she laughed; a melodic sound that echoed across the room and reverberated somewhere inside Bobby’s soul.

She was so fucking gorgeous that it took his breath away. Long blonde hair hanging in damp threads around her face, warm honey-coloured skin glistening under the harsh lights, bright yellow dress clinging to her body in a way that left little to the imagination. 

But it was her eyes that he couldn’t stop staring at; an enticing shade of green that reminded him of the highlands back home in Scotland. Bright and expressive, they glittered with humour - despite it being clearly the wrong time for such light-heartedness - and his heart stopped beating for a second. A strange feeling passed through him, as though something had shifted in the world and he could do nothing but gape open-mouthed at her. Awestruck. In love.

_Idiot._

“Did anyone know it’s raining outside?” she joked with a smirk. 

_Hot? Check._ _Playful? Check._ _Confident? Check._

_Oh god. I'm screwed._

Their head chef and teacher, Jake Wilson, who had an unimpressed scowl on his face _before_ she’d walked in, clicked his tongue in annoyance. “Lesson one: you do _not_ show up to my class late, Miss…?”

Unfazed by the death glare he was giving her, she smiled. “Oh! I’m Chloe. Chloe Hall. And you are?”

If it wasn’t already completely quiet, Bobby was sure that everyone in the room would have stopped what they were doing and stared at her. Jake Wilson wasn’t just the person who would be taking them through this gruelling nine month course, he was a goddamn celebrity in the industry. It was a fucking honour to be taught by him. That she didn’t know who he was didn’t bode well for her.

Jake’s frown morphed into a look of mild humour, something Bobby was _sure_ he’d never seen on the man’s face in any of the thousands of pictures of him online.

Gesturing to the empty seat next to Bobby, Jake said in a far friendlier tone than earlier, “Take a seat, Miss Hall.”

“Oh, you can just call me Chloe,” she said with a wink.

A wink. At their teacher. In front of everyone. On the first day.

_Who was this girl?_

As Chloe walked over to where Bobby was seated, her eyes met his and he gulped, suddenly overwhelmed with a strange urge to touch her.

_Christ, rein it in a bit._

“Hey,” she breathed out as she sat down next to him, “It’s pretty cool -”

“Miss Hall, please stop talking,” Jake interrupted her and she rolled her eyes in response.

As the class continued on, Bobby desperately tried to pay attention to what Jake was saying, furiously scribbling notes he definitely wouldn’t be able to read later. Problem was, he kept getting distracted. By her.

She just sat there, not bothering to take notes, not even really bothering to listen. Her head resting in her hand, expression of boredom on her face as her fingers lightly tapped the counter between them. Beautiful, long slender fingers. Fingers he couldn’t stop imagining running over his body, through his hair, over his face.

_For fuck’s sake, concentrate._

Thankfully it wasn’t long before the talking part was over and they were given a challenge so Jake could judge their skill level; bake the perfect cupcake.

This was where Bobby fucking _shined_. He was going to absolutely nail this. And perhaps his excitement had a little something to do with the fact that he might be able to impress the stunning girl next to him. Only a little bit though. It definitely wasn’t his entire motivation or anything crazy like that.

The classroom quickly became a hub of noise, but the sounds of everyone desperate to impress faded in his ears as he concentrated solely on mixing and whisking and beating and decorating.

Oh, and of course what Chloe was doing. He couldn’t help but stare at her. The way she’d poke her tongue out when she was concentrating hard, the frown that appeared between her brows when she was thinking about something, the way she smirked at him when she caught him watching her. 

_Crap._

When he was done, Bobby looked down at his creation: gorgeous little vanilla cupcakes with buttercream proudly piped on top. He wasn’t the most confident person outside of the kitchen, but in it, he had the confidence of Kayne West. Except, well, Bobby’s confidence wasn’t misplaced. 

And ok, _sure_ , the flavour of his cupcake was basic bitch, but it would allow Jake to see his _technical_ skill, something he’d spent years perfecting. He was going to ace this.

“Vanilla huh?” Chloe asked, leaning casually against the counter as she eyed his work.

“Aye, can’t go wrong with a classic.”

She smirked, a playfulness in her eyes that made him feel weak. “I agree, even a _child_ couldn’t fuck it up.”

_Quick too? Kill me now._

A chuckle unwillingly left his mouth and that was the exact moment he knew she was going to destroy him – he was fucked. Because already, knowing nothing about her, he would give her anything she asked for. He wanted her. So bad it hurt.

Eyeing her cupcakes, he mused, “I don’t think chocolate is any better.”

“Hmm,” she hummed with a challenging smile, “Guess we’ll see, won’t we?”

At that moment, Jake walked over to their station and mild irritation shot through Bobby as Jake’s eyes flickered with interest at Chloe. 

Clearing his throat, Jake reached for Bobby’s cupcake. He cut it half; it folded like butter, he assessed the density; immaculate of course, he took a bite; no doubt tasting the perfect balance of - 

“It’s too sweet,” Jake tisked.

_What? Bullshit!_

_No chance in hell is my cupcake too fucking sweet. It was a goddamn masterpiece._

Bobby seethed, his irritation intensifying for this stupid hack who clearly was only famous because he was good looking and not at all because he was actually good at anything.

Alright, maybe he was just bitter.

Unlike his cupcake, which was _apparently_ too sweet.

He was so lost in his own outrage that he missed Jake tasting Chloe’s cupcake until the dickhead said, “Perfect balance of flavours, Miss Hall.”

Chloe’s eyes flicked to Bobby’s, self-satisfaction in her eyes as she silently rubbed it in. 

Honestly? It only made him fall harder. He was in way too fucking deep. Someone needed to throw him a life jacket. No, seriously, he needed the coast guard. He was out at sea without a hope in hell of finding land.

Done with torturing him, for now, she smiled at Jake. “Thanks, that’s me all over; the perfect balance.”

Jake hummed in his throat, eyes roaming far too slowly over her face for Bobby’s liking, before he simply said, “Indeed.”

As soon as the prick stepped away from the bench, Bobby grabbed his cupcake and took a bite. 

_Fuuuuccckkk._

Jake was right; it was too sweet. Asshole. A _right_ asshole, but an asshole just the same.

“He was definitely flirting, right?” Chloe asked, pulling him out of his thoughts.

“I think _you_ were flirting with _him_.”

God, how Bobby wished she'd been flirting with him instead.

Chloe let out a huff of amusement, turning to watch Jake as he stood at the next table, her eyes slowly rolling up and down the man’s body, unmistakable desire written on her face.

_Oh my fucking god. You are literally watching her, watching him. Stop._

“He _is_ very cute,” she mused to herself.

Bobby gritted his teeth and didn’t say anything. He was handsome, sure, but that’s about the only thing Jake had going for him. In Bobby’s humble opinion.

He swore it had nothing to do with the obvious mutual attraction between Jake and Chloe. Or the fact that he might _possibly_ be incredibly jealous. Shit.

Like he said, he was fucked.

By the time they'd finished for the day, Bobby was desperate to make sure she knew he was interested. He wasn't going to let this girl go without a fight.

Grabbing her arm as she went to leave, he stammered out, “Do you - are you - want to go for a drink?”

The way her face lit up gave him hope. Hope that was very quickly dashed by her words. “Sure! I reckon we're going to be great friends.”

_Friends. Right._

So began the slow, unrelenting torture of Bobby McKenzie. Over the time that followed, he was forced to endure a million little deaths that pierced his heart over and over again to the point where he couldn’t take it anymore.

Yet, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her, wanting her, spending all of his fucking time with her. It was pathetic and horrible and there wasn’t a single thing he could do about it.

Because he was an absolute dumbass who had fallen hard and _way_ too fast for stupidly perfect Chloe Hall.

As she had predicted, they became great friends; sitting together in class, hanging out at one of their flats during the weekends, sending each other stupid gifs late at night.

Each moment with her felt special, warm. Like a happy childhood memory that made you want to go back and relive it over and over again. The way she laughed, the way she smiled, the way she teased him effortlessly. He was so fucking smitten with her and there was nothing he could do about it.

Don't get him wrong; he had _tried_ to change things between them. But he always chickened out, or she would drop the 'f' bomb on him again, and eventually it got to the point where it became too hard to do.

She was a bright spot in his otherwise dreary life. She was the kind of person you knew you would never, ever forget. And he didn't want to ruin what they had. He would regret it for the rest of his life. He would never forgive himself.

Even so, he hated every goddamn second of their friendship. Resented it.

Because it meant he got front row tickets to watch her obsess over Jake, watch her flirt with him in class, watch her look at him in a way she’d never looked at Bobby. And then there was the worst one of all; the day they graduated, he got to watch her jump up and down with excitement because Jake finally asked her out.

Bobby and Chloe remained close friends, but before long she stopped messaging him funny jokes, and instead started sending him photos of her outfit choices for what she was wearing to her dates. With Jake.

He didn’t _want_ any part of getting to choose the outfit Jake got to slide from her body, but he did it anyway. It was better than not hearing from her at all. At least that’s what he’d tell himself as he lay awake at night and tried not to imagine what they were getting up to. If Jake was as good in bed as he looked like he’d be, if he was making her scream his name, if she was whispering words of love into his ear.

God it hurt. Every damn day. Often more than it did the day before.

And right now, as they sat on the couch chatting, he really fucking _hoped_ the cuts couldn't get any deeper. He wasn't sure he could handle it.

“Soooo…” she drawled, eyeing him nervously, “Can Jake come to your birthday?”

_His birthday?_

_Bobby’s birthday?_

_She wanted Jake, that schemy little weasel, at_ **_his_ ** _birthday?_

Luckily, Bobby had basically become an expert at not letting his feelings show on his face. He would have been _mortified_ if he’d accidentally shown her that she’d basically just thrust her hand into his chest and ripped his heart in two.

Deflecting a little so he could think of a feasible non _‘I’m in love with you so I don’t want you bringing the guy you are dating to my birthday’_ reason, he teased, “Oh, are you at the point of hanging out with each other's friends now?”

To his absolute horror, Chloe blushed, looking down at her hands which she was now twisting in her lap as she tried to shrug casually. It didn’t fool him. And _now_ , his heart was in four pieces.

“Oh shit. You are?”

She cleared her throat. “I mean, I _want_ to be.”

Spoke too soon, _eight_ torn up piles of his heart.

He wanted to say no, wanted to scream it at her, wanted to go over to Jake’s house right now and punch his stupid fucking face. 

But he didn’t do any of that, instead, he said, “Sure.”

The grin she gave him stopped his heart, as it usually did, and he smiled back at her. Even though he _really_ didn’t want to be forced to watch them be all over each other all fucking night, _on his birthday_ , he didn’t regret saying yes. That smile had been worth it.

Fuck. Had he already mentioned that he couldn’t deny her anything?

By the time the weekend had rolled around, Bobby was ready to let off some steam. This week had sucked and he was looking forward to spending his birthday with some good friends - plus Jake. Not really Jake.

This year he’d chosen the theme of one of his favourite movies; Aladdin. He thought it would be kind of fun to have everyone come over to his flat, all dressed up.

Alright, alright, he’ll admit it; he wanted to see Chloe dressed up as Jasmine. His fucking fantasy.

And _god_ , she had not disappointed. Better than his imagination. His mouth had gone dry, sweat dotted his brow and his pulse had gone through the fucking roof! Okay, and he _might_ have got a semi. But that part was kinda embarrassing. Fortunately, Jake had walked in behind her and there went that problem. All his lust and indecent thoughts about Chloe easily transferred into his blinding hatred for this pompous dingus.

It had taken Bobby exactly one hour and forty five minutes to get completely and utterly _hammered_. Call it having a great birthday, or drowning his sorrows, whatever, he didn’t care.

All he knew was that he no longer had to watch Chloe dance with Jake because he couldn’t really concentrate enough to see them.

For the first time since he’d met her, his brain stopped thinking about Chloe and instead was filled with a bunch of random gibberish that he couldn’t really figure out. He felt dizzy, carefree, and truly fucking wonderful.

He felt like himself again.

People came and went, he danced, he laughed, he played silly games. It was one of the best birthdays he’d had. If only for the fact that eleven months of pining obsessively over a girl had made this year one of the worst of his life. The numbness he now felt was like a reward.

He was so happy and drunk, that when he bumped into her later on, his heart didn’t even have the _capacity_ to skip a beat.

_Pure bliss._

“Chloe!” he slurred as he threw an arm around her, “My favourite person in the whole world!”

“You’re well pissed Bobs!” She laughed and the sound of it kicked him unceremoniously from relaxed Bobby to obsessing over Chloe Bobby. It happened so quickly, he wobbled on his already unsteady legs and she had to help him keep standing.

“Am not,” he denied uselessly with a full pout.

“Are too,” she giggled, grabbing his hand. “Let’s go get you some water okay?”

He probably would have kept pouting, maybe complained some more, but Chloe was holding his hand. And he felt like he might start crying about it.

_Shit._

Pulling him into the kitchen, she laughed as he stumbled along behind her and he got so distracted by the sound that he bumped into the counter, sending pain shooting through his hip, “Fuck!”

“Aw, poor baby,” she teased in mock concern.

And then, she stepped up closer to him, holding onto his shoulders to keep him steady. In that moment, like so many others before it, he got lost looking into her eyes. They practically _glowed_ with affection and, with a hard swallow, he realised that it was directed at him. She was looking at him, Bobby McKenzie, as though he were her world.

His heart started thumping a loud rhythm in his ears, blocking out the sounds of the party on the other side of the kitchen door. He couldn’t think or see or hear anything except her.

_Oh god Chloe, I love you so fucking much._

With a giggle, she said, “Well, I love _you_ so fucking much.”

_Crap. Fuck. Balls._

_Did I say that out loud?_

But worse than him revealing his embarrassing secret to her, was the way she looked at him as she told him she loved him. Like she meant as a friend. Like she didn’t understand that he _meant_ it. 

He was in love with her, had told her as much, and _still_ she didn’t get it.

The urge to clarify shot through him like an arrow and before he could think better of it, the words tumbled out of his mouth, “No Chloe, I love you. I’m _in love_ with you.”

She blinked at him for a moment, a small frown in between her pretty green eyes as her eyes searched his face. “What?”

He reached for her hand, grateful that she let him hold it again. Also, he was extremely grateful that, despite still feeling fuzzy brained and definitely drunk as fuck, his words came out clear as he _finally_ admitted his feelings for her.

“I have been in love with you since the moment I first laid eyes on you. You mean everything to me, I don’t want to be just friends, I want to be with you.”

Perhaps the alcohol was messing with him because instead of being scared or worried, he only felt relief. Even when, for several minutes, she just stared at him, her eyes darted between each of his.

_Fuck. She’s so stupidly pretty._

He got a little distracted by looking at her lips, slightly parted, inviting him, and all he could think about was kissing her. Oh _fuck_ did he want to kiss her. He’d never wanted anything more in his entire life.

Closing the distance between them, he crashed his lips to hers and fireworks exploded in his brain, in his entire body. It was nothing like he’d ever felt before. This was it. She was it for him.

And _then_ , her lips started moving against his own, pressing back, and a whimper of happiness escaped him. He felt burning hot; on fire. Every part of him lit up as lights danced behind his closed eyelids. He couldn’t remember anything, couldn’t think of anything. Nothing. Except Chloe.

He couldn’t believe it. He was kissing Chloe. _She_ was kissing him.

It was everything he'd wanted for so long.

Suddenly he was desperate to see her. He wanted to look into her beautiful green eyes, the eyes he thought of constantly, and see the love he felt for her reflected back at him. He wanted to confirm it, to _know_ that she felt that same.

But when he pulled back, he didn’t see any of that.

Instead, tears clung heavily to the bottom of her lids, threatening to overflow, and her lips trembled as she watched him, sadness and regret haunting her beautiful face.

“Chloe, I don’t - what’s wrong?”

“I love _him_. I love Jake.”

**Author's Note:**

> Margot! I hope you liked this at least a fraction of how much I love your fics (impossible because I love them _a lot_ )!
> 
> Massive thanks to beta Lauren for being the amazing person that you are, and to Audrey for all your kind words that I do not deserve. I appreciate you both.


End file.
